overhaul: reduce use of "will"

Write more in present tense.

A few other minor cleanups while at it.

Closes #385

build.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ already done and prepared to allow you to easily build it yourself.
 
 There are also friendly people and organizations who put together binary
 packages of curl and libcurl and make them available for download. The
-different options will be explored below.
+different options are explored below.
 
 ## The latest version?
 

build/autotools.md

@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ with the previously used options adjusted.
 After configure has completed, you invoke `make` to build the entire thing and
 then finally `make install` to install curl, libcurl and associated
 things. `make install` requires that you have the correct rights in your
-system to create and write files in the installation directory or you will get
-some errors.
+system to create and write files in the installation directory or you get an
+error displayed.
 
 ## Cross-compiling
 
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ result then can be moved over and used on the other machine.
 
 ## Static linking
 
-By default, configure will setup the build files so that the following 'make'
-command will create both shared and static versions of libcurl. You can change
+By default, configure setups the build files so that the following 'make'
+command creates both shared and static versions of libcurl. You can change
 that with the `--disable-static` or `--disable-shared` options to configure.
 
 If you instead want to build with static versions of third party libraries
@@ -87,13 +87,12 @@ automatically check for OpenSSL, but modern versions do not.
  - Secure Transport: `--with-secure-transport`
  - wolfSSL: `--with-wolfssl`
 
-If you do not specify which TLS library to use, the configure script will
-fail. If you want to build *without* TLS support, you must explicitly ask for
-that with `--without-ssl`.
+If you do not specify which TLS library to use, the configure script fails. If
+you want to build *without* TLS support, you must explicitly ask for that with
+`--without-ssl`.
 
 These `--with-*` options also allow you to provide the install prefix so that
-configure will search for the specific library where you tell it to. Like
-this:
+configure searches for the specific library where you tell it to. Like this:
 
     ./configure --with-gnutls=/home/user/custom-gnutls
 
@@ -116,8 +115,7 @@ correct command-line options.
  - wolfSSH: `--with-wolfssh`
 
 These `--with-*` options also allow you to provide the install prefix so that
-configure will search for the specific library where you tell it to. Like
-this:
+configure searches for the specific library where you tell it to. Like this:
 
     ./configure --with-libssh2=/home/user/custom-libssh2
 

build/deps.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ code.
 
 A whole slew of features that curl provides require that it is built to use
 one or more external libraries. They are then dependencies of curl. None of
-them are *required*, but most users will want to use at least some of them.
+them are *required*, but most users want to use at least some of them.
 
 ## HTTP Compression
 
@@ -19,18 +19,18 @@ these libraries:
  - brotli compression with [brotli](https://github.com/google/brotli)
  - zstd compression with [libzstd](https://github.com/facebook/zstd)
 
-Getting compressed data over the wire will use less bandwidth, which might
-also result in shorter transfer times.
+Getting compressed data over the wire uses less bandwidth, which might also
+result in shorter transfer times.
 
 ## c-ares
 
 https://c-ares.org/
 
 curl can be built with c-ares to be able to do asynchronous name resolution.
-Another option to enable asynchronous name resolution is to build curl with the
-threaded name resolver backend, which will then instead create a separate
-helper thread for each name resolve. c-ares does it all within the
-same thread.
+Another option to enable asynchronous name resolution is to build curl with
+the threaded name resolver backend, which then instead creates a separate
+helper thread for each name resolve. c-ares does it all within the same
+thread.
 
 ## nghttp2
 
@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@ librtmp library that comes from the RTMPDump project.
 
 https://rockdaboot.github.io/libpsl/
 
-When you build curl with support for libpsl, the cookie parser will know about
-the Public Suffix List and thus handle such cookies appropriately.
+When you build curl with support for libpsl, the cookie parser knows about the
+Public Suffix List and thus handle such cookies appropriately.
 
 ## libidn2
 

build/separate.md

@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ tends to confuse users.
 ## Static linking
 
 You can avoid the problem of curl finding an older dynamic libcurl library by
-instead linking with libcurl statically. This will however instead trigger a
-slew of other challenges because linking modern libraries with several third
-party dependencies statically is hard work. When you link statically, you need
-to make sure you provide all the dependencies to the linker. This is not a
-method we recommend.
+instead linking with libcurl statically. This however instead triggers a slew
+of other challenges because linking modern libraries with several third party
+dependencies statically is hard work. When you link statically, you need to
+make sure you provide all the dependencies to the linker. This is not a method
+we recommend.
 
 ## Dynamic linking
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ application, you can make that load your custom libcurl build like this:
 
 With `rpath` set, the executable linked against `$HOME/install/lib/libcurl.so`
 then makes the runtime linker use that specific path and library, while other
-binaries in your system will continue to use the system libcurl.
+binaries in your system continue to use the system libcurl.
 
 When you want to make your custom build of `curl` use its own libcurl and you
 install them into `$HOME/install`, then a configure command line for this

build/tls.md

@@ -25,60 +25,56 @@ machine.
 
 ## configure
 
-Below, you will learn how to tell configure to use the different libraries.
-The configure script will not select any TLS library by default. You must
-select one, or instruct configure that you want to build without TLS support
-using `--without-ssl`.
+Below, you learn how to tell configure to use the different libraries. The
+configure script does not select any TLS library by default. You must select
+one, or instruct configure that you want to build without TLS support using
+`--without-ssl`.
 
 ### OpenSSL, BoringSSL, libressl
 
     ./configure --with-openssl
 
-configure will detect OpenSSL in its default path by default. You can
-optionally point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find
-OpenSSL:
+configure detects OpenSSL in its default path by default. You can optionally
+point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find OpenSSL:
 
     ./configure --with-openssl=/home/user/installed/openssl
 
-The alternatives [BoringSSL](boringssl.md) and libressl look similar
-enough that configure will detect them the same way as OpenSSL. It then uses
-additional measures to figure out which of the particular flavors it is using.
+The alternatives [BoringSSL](boringssl.md) and libressl look similar enough
+that configure detects them the same way as OpenSSL. It then uses additional
+measures to figure out which of the particular flavors it is using.
 
 ### GnuTLS
 
     ./configure --with-gnutls
 
-configure will detect GnuTLS in its default path by default. You can
-optionally point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find
-gnutls:
+configure detects GnuTLS in its default path by default. You can optionally
+point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find gnutls:
 
     ./configure --with-gnutls=/home/user/installed/gnutls
 
 ### WolfSSL
 
     ./configure --with-wolfssl
 
-configure will detect WolfSSL in its default path by default. You can
-optionally point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find
-WolfSSL:
+configure detects WolfSSL in its default path by default. You can optionally
+point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find WolfSSL:
 
     ./configure --with-wolfssl=/home/user/installed/wolfssl
 
 ### mbedTLS
 
     ./configure --with-mbedtls
 
-configure will detect mbedTLS in its default path by default. You can
-optionally point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find
-mbedTLS:
+configure detects mbedTLS in its default path by default. You can optionally
+point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find mbedTLS:
 
     ./configure --with-mbedtls=/home/user/installed/mbedtls
 
 ### Secure Transport
 
     ./configure --with-secure-transport
 
-configure will detect Secure Transport in its default path by default. You can
+configure detects Secure Transport in its default path by default. You can
 optionally point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find
 Secure Transport:
 
@@ -88,7 +84,7 @@ Secure Transport:
 
     ./configure --with-schannel
 
-configure will detect Schannel in its default path by default.
+configure detects Schannel in its default path by default.
 
 (WinSSL was previously an alternative name for Schannel, and earlier curl
 versions instead needed `--with-winssl`)
@@ -97,9 +93,8 @@ versions instead needed `--with-winssl`)
 
     ./configure --with-bearssl
 
-configure will detect BearSSL in its default path by default. You can
-optionally point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find
-BearSSL:
+configure detects BearSSL in its default path by default. You can optionally
+point configure to a custom install path prefix where it can find BearSSL:
 
     ./configure --with-bearssl=/home/user/installed/bearssl
 
@@ -108,7 +103,7 @@ BearSSL:
     ./configure --with-rustls
 
 When told to use "rustls", curl is actually trying to find and use the
-rustls-ffi library - the C API for the rustls library. configure will detect
+rustls-ffi library - the C API for the rustls library. configure detects
 rustls-ffi in its default path by default. You can optionally point configure
 to a custom install path prefix where it can find rustls-ffi:
 

build/windows.md

@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ build curl with.
 
 Project files are provided for several different Visual C++ versions.
 
-To build with VC++, you will of course have to first install VC++ which is
-part of Visual Studio.
+To build with VC++, you need to first install VC++ which is part of Visual
+Studio.
 
 Once you have VC++ installed you should launch the application and open one of
 the solution or workspace files. The VC directory names are based on the
-version of Visual C++ that you will be using. Each version of Visual Studio
-has a default version of Visual C++. We offer these versions:
+version of Visual C++ that you use. Each version of Visual Studio has a
+default version of Visual C++. We offer these versions:
 
  - VC10      (Visual Studio 2010 Version 10.0)
  - VC11      (Visual Studio 2012 Version 11.0)
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ use `VC14.30\curl-all.sln` to build curl and libcurl.
 
 If you are a developer and plan to run the curl tool from Visual Studio (eg
 you are debugging) with any third-party libraries (such as OpenSSL, wolfSSL or
-libSSH2) then you will need to add the search path of these DLLs to the
+libSSH2) then you need to add the search path of these DLLs to the
 configuration's PATH environment. To do that:
 
  1. Open the 'curl-all.sln' or 'curl.sln' solutions
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ DLL Debug - DLL wolfSSL (x64):
     C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem
 
 If you are using a configuration that uses multiple third-party library DLLs
-(such as `DLL Debug - DLL OpenSSL - DLL LibSSH2`) then `Path to DLL` will need
-to contain the path to both of these.
+(such as `DLL Debug - DLL OpenSSL - DLL LibSSH2`) then `Path to DLL` need to
+contain the path to both of these.
 
 ## Notes
 
@@ -102,12 +102,12 @@ The following keywords have been used in the directory hierarchy:
    Release - LIB OpenSSL)
 
 If you are using the source code from the git repository, rather than a
-release archive or nightly build, you will need to generate the project
+release archive or nightly build, you need to generate the project
 files. Please run "generate -help" for usage details.
 
 Should you wish to help out with some of the items on the TODO list, or find
 bugs in the project files that need correcting, and would like to submit
 updated files back then please note that, whilst the solution files can be
 edited directly, the templates for the project files (which are stored in the
-git repository) will need to be modified rather than the generated project
-files that Visual Studio uses.
+git repository) need to be modified rather than the generated project files
+that Visual Studio uses.

cmdline.md

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ prompts and from within scripts by countless users over the years.
 ## Garbage in gives garbage out
 
 curl has little will of its own. It tries to please you and your wishes to a
-large extent. It also means that it will try to play with what you give it. If
+large extent. It also means that it tries to play with what you give it. If
 you misspell an option, it might do something unintended. If you pass in a
-slightly illegal URL, chances are curl will still deal with it and proceed. It
+slightly illegal URL, chances are curl still deals with it and proceeds. It
 means that you can pass in crazy data in some options and you can have curl
 pass on that crazy data in its transfer operation.
 

cmdline/configfile.md

@@ -101,7 +101,8 @@ You'll need to use double quotes when:
 * the parameter contains white space, or starts with the characters `:` or `=`.
 * you need to use escape sequences (available options: `\\`, `\"`, `\t`, `\n`, `\r` and `\v`. A backslash preceding any other letter is ignored).
 
-If a parameter containing white space is not enclosed in double quotes, curl will treat the next space or newline as the end of the argument.
+If a parameter containing white space is not enclosed in double quotes, curl
+considers the next space or newline as the end of the argument.
 
 ## Default config file
 
@@ -129,4 +130,4 @@ it checks for one in the same dir the curl executable is placed.
 
 On Windows two filenames are checked per location: `.curlrc` and `_curlrc`,
 preferring the former. Ancient curl versions on Windows checked for `_curlrc`
-only.
+only.

cmdline/differences.md

@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ precedence when a command line is executed. In order to use curl properly with
 PowerShell, you need to type in its full name including the extension:
 "curl.exe".
 
-Different command-line environments will also have different maximum command
-line lengths and force the users to limit how large amount of data that can be
-put into a single line. curl adapts to this by offering a way to provide
-command-line options through a file or stdin using the
-[-K option](configfile.md).
+Different command-line environments have different maximum command line
+lengths and force the users to limit how large amount of data that can be put
+into a single line. curl adapts to this by offering a way to provide
+command-line options through a file or stdin using the [-K option](configfile.md).

cmdline/globbing.md

@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ of the brackets used for the ranges:
 
 ## Combinations
 
-You can use several globs in the same URL which then will make curl iterate
-over those, too. To download the images of Ben, Alice and Frank, in both the
+You can use several globs in the same URL which then makes curl iterate over
+those, too. To download the images of Ben, Alice and Frank, in both the
 resolutions 100 x 100 and 1000 x 1000, a command line could look like:
 
     curl -O "http://example.com/{Ben,Alice,Frank}-{100x100,1000x1000}.jpg"

cmdline/listopts.md

@@ -1,19 +1,19 @@
 # List options
 
 curl has more than two hundred and fifty command-line options and the number
-of options keep increasing over time. Chances are the number of options will
-reach three hundred in the coming years.
+of options keep increasing over time. Chances are the number of options
+reaches or even surpasses three hundred in the coming years.
 
 To find out which options you need to perform as certain action, you can get
-curl to list them. First, `curl --help` or simply `curl -h` will get you a
-list of the most important and frequently used options. You can then provide
-an additional "category" to `-h` to get more options listed for that specific
+curl to list them. First, `curl --help` or simply `curl -h` get you a list of
+the most important and frequently used options. You can then provide an
+additional "category" to `-h` to get more options listed for that specific
 area. Use `curl -h category` to list all existing categories or `curl -h all`
 to list *all* available options.
 
 The `curl --manual` option outputs the entire man page for curl. That is a
 thorough and complete document on how each option works amassing several
 thousand lines of documentation. To wade through that is also a tedious work
 and we encourage use of a search function through those text masses. Some
-people will appreciate the man page in its [web
-version](https://curl.se/docs/manpage.html).
+people might also appreciate the man page in its
+[web version](https://curl.se/docs/manpage.html).

cmdline/options.md

@@ -76,17 +76,17 @@ contains one or more spaces. For example you want to set the user-agent field
 curl uses to be exactly `I am your father`, including those three spaces. Then
 you need to put quotes around the string when you pass it to curl on the
 command line. The exact quotes to use varies depending on your shell/command
-prompt, but generally it will work with double quotes in most places:
+prompt, but generally it works with double quotes in most places:
 
     curl -A "I am your father" http://example.com
 
 Failing to use quotes, like if you would write the command line like this:
 
     curl -A I am your father http://example.com
 
-… will make curl only use 'I' as a user-agent string, and the following
-strings, 'am', your, etc will instead all be treated as separate URLs since
-they do not start with `-` to indicate that they are options and curl only ever
+… makes curl only use 'I' as a user-agent string, and the following strings,
+`am`, `your` and `father` are instead treated as separate URLs since they do
+not start with `-` to indicate that they are options and curl only ever
 handles options and URLs.
 
 To make the string itself contain double quotes, which is common when you for